Project Predling: Second Chance
by Triscribe
Summary: TF Prime, Shattered Glass: In my first Project Predling one-shot, Predaking suffered a dire loss. This is the other version of the story, where Shockwave makes a different decision, and Megatron suddenly finds his ship infested with six adorable little troublemakers of differing talents - not in the least of which is squeezing their way into the hearts and sparks of all aboard.
1. Chapter 1

_A/N: I'd suggest reading my little one-shot Project Predling to understand the other choice made by Shockwave, but it's not necessary. This story will be drastically more light-hearted, at least for the first few chapters... Enjoy!_

 _-Triscribe_

Chapter 1

"Well will they be ready to hatch?" Drakonis asked eagerly, leaning down to beam at one of the developing Predacon protoforms in its container. Over by the console that displayed how each of the sparklings was developing, Shockwave chuckled at his oldest creation's antics.

"Soon enough, Predaking." The scientist replied with humor. The use of the other designation, though, sent the massive being into a pout.

"That's not my name," he grumbled. "I don't like that others want me to use it. _You_ were the one to name me Drakonis."

"True." Shockwave acknowledged. "But it is your proper title, since you will be the lord of your revitalized race." Within the secured bunker, six cylindrical tanks were lined up in a neat row, glowing with a concoction of energon and nutrients for the growing sparklings to absorb. Since Megatron had seen the result of Shockwave's initial attempt to clone a living Predacon, the Decepticon leader was willing to put forth the time and effort to create more. If they continued to grow as scheduled, the sparklings would be released from their containers in two Earth weeks, fully grown. At the moment, they'd achieved their initial stage of development without any difficulties, and only required the additional time to expand their frames far faster than could be done out in the open.

"I just want them to be my friends," Drakonis muttered to himself, not noticing his guardian hearing the soft words and suffering a wave of guilt for it. The massive, winged mech had been created back on Cybertron, the only one of his kind thanks to Shockwave not having the materials to form any more Predacons. Though, the scientist continued to view that as something of a positive, for he'd had his servos full training the winged being - especially upon the discovery of his creation's intelligence and transformation abilities.

Now, with Drakonis' dream of companions - family - so close to becoming reality, Shockwave was feeling an equal mix of anticipation and remorse. Unlike his first creation, these Predacons would be thrust immediately into an atmosphere of war, with very little time for a learning curve. Their exceptionally tough beastial frames would help the sparklings survive until they got their pedes under them, but it would be such a shame to see newspark innocence lost so quickly. Drakonis himself, despite also having been born immediately into his adult farm, was still such a child at spark himself, though the last few skirmishes with the Autobot forces had done much to curb his carefree attitude.

Sighing, Shockwave left the console to stand beside his eldest creation and lay a reassuring hand on his arm.

"They will be." He assured Drakonis. "You're too much of a soft-sparked nest brooder for them to be otherwise."

The large Predacon started to smile and nod, but then gave his guardian a mock scowl. "Hey..." Shockwave exvented in amusement, before returning to his work. Drakonis just rolled his optics and began to look over his future friends once more.

In the lead tank was a female Predacon who looked very much like a bird, complete with metal feathers reaching down from her head to the tip of her long tail. It was a bit hard to tell through the green liquid, but Drakonis thought she might be a blend of red and gold. Shockwave had mentioned a few days ago that their designations would be determined by their King, setting the grown Predacon to considering. He decided that this one would be called Moltenwing.

The next tank held a small mechling with equal parts feline and avian in appearance. Even in the stasis of the container, this one's paws and wings would twitch, making Drakonis think he must be dreaming - probably of joyous flight or sure-footed racing. The name he received was Skylynx, a mighty hunter.

After that was a more serpentine Predacon, a femme with a mix of scales and feathers. Just looking at the gleaming, razor sharp edges of her folded wings, Drakonis dubbed her Airazor. The design of that thin frame alone would make her a force to be reckoned with in the sky.

In the tank after her was a mech with similar features to Drakonis himself, though the sparkling's frame was of a slightly different shape and design. The way that his protoform armor absorbed rather than reflected light earned him the name Darksteel.

Next down the line was another mech, this one the only Predacon without wings. Instead, he had three heads, all of which bobbed in the liquid solution alongside one another, occasionally bumping or nudging the others. Though otherwise indistinguishable, each of the heads had a differently shaped jaw, which Shockwave had noted indicated what their respective breath weapons would be. Studying them for a while, Drakonis finally came up with the individual names of Flame, Frost, and Acid. The three minds could collectively be called Triple, he also decided.

And then came the last of the sparklings, a femme smaller than all her hatchmates. Drakonis new she would be the biggest of them all, though; after all, the tiny being was the same frame type as himself, and nearly identical. Her horns were a slightly different shape, and the wings were a tad more elegant, but other than that the youngest sparkling was just the same as her future King. That, though, presented something of a problem to naming her.

Drakonis wanted to make sure this Predacon, of his same breed, had a suitably intimidating name for herself. Her diminutive size and cuteness (as could be seen through the container) made coming up with such a name nigh impossible. He supposed that something could be thought off closer to the day Shockwave released his friends from their growing tanks, but with all of the others named already, Drakonis didn't want to leave the femme without, whether she was aware of it or not.

While he was still considering the problem, Shockwave was distracted from his work by an alert from the security units. Grumbling to himself for the distraction, the scientist went and answered the incoming call from their liaison to the United States government.

"Yes, Agent Darby?"

"We've got a problem on our hands," the woman told him in a blunt tone, underlaid by something he was coming to recognize as her version of nervousness expressed through aggression. "Some of your 'Bot pals just entered our territory, and are heading straight for your lab."

Shockwave felt his spark casing grow cold. "I see. I will contact Trypticon for reinforcements-"

"Better tell them to send everybody, because this is looking like a full-out Autobot invasion."

"They brought the Eradibots and Insectibots?"

"In spades. I've got what defenses I can to mobilize, but you know as well as I do that even with the modifications you've made to our tanks and guns, we won't be able to hold this lot back for very long. My superiors are in the process of evacuating all non-combat personnel, and suggest that you do the same."

"There is only myself and Predaking- and the sparklings..." A feeling of horror stole over the mech, as he turned to observe the developing Predacons sealed within their containers. Drakonis had recognized something was wrong, and was watching his guardian in turn, one clawed hand set against the glass of the last tank in the row.

Agent Darby seemed to realize what was at stake within the Decepticon lab. "...I'm sorry. Do what you can, Shockwave. We'll give these bastards hell, but at the end of the day, you and the dragon are what's important, what's irreplaceable."

"Understood. Shockwave out," he managed to emit from his choked vocalizer. Darby responded in kind, ending the call so that she could go start shooting Autobot forces. Prime didn't often mobilize his insectoid and drone contingents, preferring to save them until he had less than a handful of Decepticons trapped and in a position to be swarmed and obliterated.

Drakonis' expression of wariness had turned to outright panic, his claws more firmly grasping at the smooth surface of the growing tank. "No."

"Drak-"

"No! I won't abandon them to die!" The massive Predacon was close to transforming, so great was his instinct to defend the sparklings.

"We- we can't just abandon them, Drakonis. If we left them here, the Autobots could take them and turn your brethren against us."

If anything, his creation was growing even more horrified and unstable. "So- what? You want us to _murder_ them? Still in the containers?!"

"I can simply trigger the release of a chemical in too potent a quantity for their frames to handle. Death will be painless and near instantaneous." Drakonis was looking frantically from the tanks to his guardian and back.

"We can't!" He cried. "We- what if we just- you said yourself they're fully developed! Just small! We can take them out of the containers and raise them, let them grow naturally!"

Shockwave paused.

To release the sparklings from their containers at this point would cause them to begin growing at a normal rate, meaning that they would not be the soldiers Megatron was expecting; rather, even with growth stimulants and frame enhancements, it would be at least a full huma decade before the sparklings were anywhere near large enough to enter battle. On the other servo, giving them that time to develop would give the group a much greater maturity than if they'd been released already full grown with infant mentalities.

...Perhaps the loss of resources could be justified with this. If nothing else, Shockwave would argue to his leader that to destroy the sparklings would send Predaking into an emotionally and mentally unstable position, compromising his worth to the Decepticons, possibly even making him a danger to the other members of their small gathering.

The one-opticed scientist made his choice.

"Alright. Help me get them out."

-PP-SC-

Megatron stared at his head scientist. Then at said scientist's fully grown creation. Then at the half a dozen newest creations.

The first looked as abashed as he ever could. The second was grinning widely to try and hide his nervousness. The last... The six of them were exploring about the bridge of the Decepticon flagship, sniffing at various pedes and chirping adorably up at whoever would pay attention to them - which happened to include every Cybertronian present.

"As I was not present at the time, I will not question your decision, Shockwave." Megatron finally said. "But, in the interest of maintaining the efficiency of this ship, is there no other place to raise these sparklings?"

"Any other base we take them to will run the risk of enemy attack and a repeat of this morning's near loss, sir. Here, there is at least minimal danger to the little ones, and greater opportunities for hiding or escaping should the Autobot forces attempt to fight us on our own ground, so to speak." Shockwave informed him, desperately hoping in the back of his processor that Megatron wouldn't order the sparklings taken someplace else anyway, for the eldest Predacon's sake if nothing else.

"If you're concerned about them getting in the way, sir, we can ask the human children to watch them when all of our forces are otherwise occupied." Drakonis spoke up eagerly. He'd become quite an admirer the young natives who'd already put themselves in harm's way quite often in order to assist the Decepticons over the last six months.

Mulling it over, Megatron eventually sighed and gave his consent. "The sparklings are to be monitored at all times, and one or the both you should be prepared at all times to deal with any of their problems. Actually... Instead, let us have a specific Decepticon assigned to be a main watcher for each of the little ones. A secondary guardian, if you will."

"An excellent idea, sir." Shockwave said, beyond relieved. "Perhaps we should give the sparklings a day or two, in order to see who they are naturally inclined to trust?"

"Agreed. In the meantime, it would be best to begin introducing them to the crew-" Megatron fell silent as the bird-like femme, Moltenwing, managed to take to the air with a triumphant squawk. Every Decepticon in the room watched with both fascination and shock as the small Predacon fluttered over to perch upon their leader's curved shoulder plate. Preening with self-satisfaction, Moltenwing turned to look directly in the silver mech's bemused faceplate and gave him an inquisitive chirp.

"Ah, I'll just-" Drakonis started to step forward, reaching out to scoop up the errant sparkling, but aborted the gesture as Megatron waved him off.

"She is doing no harm just yet." He said amiably, even chuckling a tad as the little Predacon nodded and settled herself more securely on her new perch. "Do they have names yet?"

"Yes sir! That's Moltenwing, she's the oldest of them." Drakonis cast his gaze about to see where the rest of the sparklings had ended up, introducing each one as his keen eyes spotted them. "The one coiled around Soundwave's arm is Airazor, Darksteel is sitting by Skyquake's pedes, Skylynx by Dreadwing's. That's Triple, behind Airachnid, and there's Snicktooth next to Starscream."

"Excellent designations," Megatron approved, as he and all the Decepticons throughout the name took note of each of the small newcomers in turn. "Should I assume that you chose them, Drakonis?"

The grown Predacon lowered his helm bashfully. "Er, yes sir. Just this morning, actually."

Megatron just nodded, gently removing Moltenwing from her perch and transferring the drowsy femme to Shockwave's outstretched servo. "I shall ask you to round up your charges, then, and I'll ask the Constructicons to begin work on proper living arrangements for them."

"Thank you, sir." The scientist nodded, as he and his leader alike watched with amusement as Drakonis attempted to start extraditing the smaller Predacons from the various resting places they'd chosen for themselves. "Megatron?"

"Hm?"

"You are... Not upset I brought them back?"

"As I said before, old friend, I was not there and so will make no judgements." He clapped a servo on the shorter mech's shoulder. "I will say, though, that while these six will most likely be an added drain upon our resources with no return benefits for the immediate future, it would have been a great tragedy indeed to have terminated them before their lives could truly begin."

"I came to much the same conclusion myself. I believe, though, that sparing them will give us one short-term benefit at the least."

"Oh?"

Shockwave pointed to grin his eldest creation wore. "Drakonis will be happier with them around, and redouble his efforts in battle in order to ensure their safety and survival. I could not have said what his mental state would have been should the little ones not have left that bunker alive."

Megatron slowly nodded, understanding where his head scientist's words were coming from. "Then, we shall be doubly glad that life was not needlessly lost this day."

"Indeed, sir."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, back up here," Vince was waving his hands at an amused Airachnid. "Shockwave and Drakonis brought _what_ on board?"

"Six baby Predacon clones." The spider Con answered back.

"I thought the plan wasn't to wake them up until they were full grown, like Drak. Did something change?" Sierra glanced up at Breakdown, who released a burst of air from his vents in the Cybertronian equivalent of a sigh.

"Yeah, that was the plan - but somehow the 'Bots got wind of what we were up to, and sent a massive force to attack the base where Shock had his lab."

Amy finally looked up from her Kindle e-reader. "What happened then?" Ravage, the feline symbiont that the girl sat against, rumbled in agitation.

"Options: Termination of project or release of Predacons as sparklings." Soundwave answered in his monotone voice. As the tall mech rarely spoke up from behind his reflective faceplate, if ever, the others all paused to absorb the weight of his words.

"So... If they couldn't have gotten the babies out in time, Shockwave would have had to kill them?" Sierra asked quietly. Soundwave was the only one to answer, giving the teen a brief nod of affirmative.

"That's horrible," Vince murmured, fisting his hands in the pockets of his hoodie.

"That's war." Airachnid pointed out to her charge.

"Still, to have to commit mass infanticide, just to keep the kids from being captured by the enemy? I don't think it gets much worse than that."

"It does." Breakdown said in a hushed tone. "Like when the Autobots blew up the Youth Sectors to keep any of the younglings and sparklings being raised there from growing up to join the Decepticons."

No one spoke for a while after that. The Cybertronians were remembering the despair of creators and elder siblings in the deca-orns after the massacres at the Sectors, while the trio of young humans were contemplating how some people could be so evil as to do such a thing. A door opening at the other end of the room interrupted their various thoughts.

The six Predacon sparklings bounded in, followed by a harried looking Shockwave, along with Knockout and William Fowler, both of whom sported identical smirks.

"Whoa!" Amy yelped, leaning as far into Ravage's side as she could when Airazor slithered up, poking her nose right into the human girl's face. Vince and Sierra found themselves in similar states as the other sparklings got as close as they could to inspect the organic beings.

"Yeah, I got the same reaction when they first saw me," Bill mentioned idly, strolling up to his daughter and her mechanical feline babysitter. "I think the first lesson with these guys is that of personal space."

"An excellent idea, Bill. Shocky, you gonna get on that any time soon?" Knockout snickered.

At Shockwave's half-hearted glare, Breakdown took pity on the clearly overworked scientist. Almost two full days of looking after a wild herd of sparklings was enough to push anyone into a state of exhaustion.

"Aw, go easy on the mech, KO." He gently nudged Shockwave in the direction of the door. "Why don't you go get some recharge, sir? We'll look after the runts for the next few hours."

"That, would be much appreciated, Breakdown. If you're sure you can manage-"

"No sweat, Shocks!" Vince put in, getting over his initial surprise and currently stroking a purring Skylynx. "We'll keep 'em under control."

"Then I shall see you all at the end of next shift." With that said, the scientist veritably fled the room, eager for a chance to get some rest. Agent Darby had requested Drakonis, Skyquake and Dreadwing for guard duty on a group of aircraft taking high profile materials from an overseas base back to her organization's top secret headquarters, and the trio weren't due to return until that night after a full twelve hours away. By himself, Shockwave had quickly been overwhelmed by his young charges.

Primary Guardian or not, he needed a break!

"This is so cool!" Sierra whisper-yelled, running her fingers over Triple's metallic scales. Each of his three heads competed for the teen's attention, nudging one another out of the way with irritated squeaks. The other Predlings scattered to take up perches on various Decepticons, with the exception of Airazor and Skylynx, who were quite content to continue being pet by the human youths. Knockout went ahead and shared each of their names with the kids, who were suitably impressed.

"Okay, I'll admit, these guys are pretty cute as well as cool." Amy said, shooting a grin at her dad before looking around at each of the sparklings. "We've got a feathered serpent, a phoenix, a hydra, a gryphon, and a couple dragons."

"We can't call Snick and Steel the same thing, though - they've got enough differences between their frame types." Breakdown pointed out.

"Well... Snicktooth's the same as Drakonis, right? And we've been calling him a dragon from day one." Vince mused. "So, how about we say Darksteel is a drake. Similar, but not quite the same."

"I'll go along with that." Airachnid ghosted a digit over her charge's hair, ruffling the orange locks and getting the teen to roll his eyes.

"Hey," Amy suddenly said, a mischievous tone making its way into her words. "These guys can already fly under their own power, right? And they look big enough to ride..."

"Absolutely _not,_ young lady!" Bill announced, getting a pronounced pout out of his daughter and a laugh out of everyone else.

-PP:SC-

"What do you mean, they took the Predacons with them?" Optimus growled in a tone that had Arcee cringing internally. On the surface, though, the dark purple femme appeared unaffected. She'd put off making this report as long as possible, knowing her Lord would be displeased, but time had run out when the Prime called her to his throne room aboard the Ark.

"My troops briefly engaged and were destroyed by Predaking upon their arrival at the bunker." She began to explain calmly. "After he and Shockwave vanished through a groundbridge portal, the rest of the Eradibots were able to enter, and found that everything of the laboratory within had been destroyed. It was only later, as we were sorting through the wreckage to find anything that might be of use to Ratchet, that the discovery was made over the lack of any ruined Predacon protoforms."

Looming over her, Optimus narrowed his crimson optics. "So," he rasped. "Megatron still has his new recruits. But thanks to our timing, it is doubtful any of the clones are yet as powerful as Predaking. And that gives us an opportunity to work with..."

 _A/N: Hi folks! Hope y'all had a nice Thanksgiving holiday, those who celebrate it anyway. I didn't get very much time to work on this over my break, but wanted to go ahead and post what I had written anyway. I'll try to have updates every week or two, but, as returning readers may know, I have a nasty habit of losing steam with a project the longer I work on it, and may very well jump to something else to occupy my time. We'll just have to see how it goes this time around!_

 _-Triscribe_


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

" _Lynx!"_ Vince hissed, peering around a corner. "This isn't funny! Get your aft out here already!"

"Something wrong?" The teen jumped at the sound of his guardian's voice, and turned to face Airachnid with an exaggerated smile.

"Wrong? Nothing's wrong. Why would you think something was wrong?"

"Because I've been watching you try to find Skylynx for almost twenty minutes now, getting more and more stressed out." She replied with an amused expression.

Vince's shoulder's slumped. "Okay. Something's wrong. I don't know where he went."

"Well, fortunately, you aren't the only one to lose a Predling." The femme told him with a chuckle, shifting to her insectoid form. "Come one, partner." Picking up her charge, Airachnid swiftly ran the two of them through the empty halls of the old city-former. Such a mode of transport had given Vince the willies the first few times he'd experienced it - usually fleeing from Autobot troops - but after almost six months of being an honorary Decepticon, he'd gotten used to it.

Before too long, they'd reached the ship's bridge to find all six Predacon sparklings piled in a heap on Megatron's usual seat, soundly recharging.

"Okay, while that is incredibly cute, I think we need to get them out of here before Megs-"

"He's already seen." Airachnid snickered. "Called me and asked why, exactly, six little monsters had stolen his spot."

Vince was torn between groaning and laughing. He settled for a combination of the two.

"Oh, it's not that bad. Just bear in mind, with everyone trying to help keep the little pests out of trouble, no single human or bot is going to get in trouble for this."

"Yes, and that brings me _so_ much comfort."

"Hmph." Even with the sarcasm, Airachnid loved having her human around. Which, quite sadly, reminded her of the time, and the reason she'd gone to find Vince in the first place. "Are you planning on staying here tonight, or should I have Soundwave bridge you home?"

Instantly, the teen's body stiffened up, and he resolutely kept his face pointed towards the ground. "Uh, I was banking on spending the night here, if that's okay. Dad was making all the signs this morning that he'd be going out to the bar again, and I don't really want to be home when he gets back."

"Vince... You know you're always welcome with us, and me. That said, I'm starting to get a little worried that you're sleeping in your room up here more often than the one at your actual home." The femme went ahead and started walking them in the direction of the elevators, which would take the two down to the deck with personal quarters.

"I know. And I'm grateful! It's just... To be honest, being aboard Trypticon feels more like being home than when I at my parent's house."

"Human culture might not be my strong suit, Vince, but even _I_ know that isn't a good sign. Are you sure that you don't want Agent Darby to-"

"No!" He shouted in panic, before lowering his voice. "I mean, no, it wouldn't help. For all his faults, Dad's income is what takes care of the mortgage payments, and I wouldn't be able to keep Mom afloat if something happened to him."

"But it's _your_ income at that burger joint that pays for your own things and the groceries."

"Yeah..."

"Vince-" Airachnid stopped in the hallway, and lifted her charge so as to look him straight in the eye. "If things ever get worse in that household, if you reach the point where you can't take it any more, I want you to tell me. If nothing else, Agent Darby can have your Mom moved out to someplace she'll be looked after, and you'll stay with us full time, with no reason to go back. Alright?"

Wide-eyed, the teen merely stared at her in shock for a few moments. "A-alright."

"Good. Now let's go get you settled for the night."

-PP:SC-

Drakonis let out a proud roar as he soared amid the clouds, which was echoed by five similar cries from the sparklings flapping along after him. Flying lessons had become the little ones' favorite part of the day, and Drak's as well. Even flightless Triple enjoyed the time he got to spend sitting upon Trypticon's upper deck, watching his leader and nestmates power their way across the sky.

Airazor, being practically all tail and wings, was so far the most accomplished flyer. It had taken her some time to figure out how to propel herself through the empty air, but after a few days of practice the feathered serpent had developed her own method of flight that was easily the most graceful out of the sparklings. Moltenwing also had become quite proficient at her delicate motions, whereas Skylynx and Darksteel prefered to gain as much height as they could with powerful strokes of the their wings, before gliding back down in elegant spirals.

Snicktooth had perhaps both the easiest and hardest time of them all. Being a small version of Drakonis' frame type, she'd gotten into the air the fastest by copying his movements. As the others progressed with their own styles, though, the little dragon was determined to mimic her leader's flight exactly, and as such was driving herself to exhaustion. Usually she tired herself out long before the others did, and had to be partially supported back to the Decepticon ship, where Triple would sit beside her as they continued to watch the rest of their siblings practice.

 _Not fair!_ Snicktooth squawked in the harsh tongue of the Predacons, flapping her wings agitatedly. _Not fair!_

 _Typical._ Was Triple's response, from the head known as Acid. Flame and Frost both nodded their assent.

 _Didn't ask you._ The little dragon hissed back, glaring at him. Triple's three minds found that amusing, though, and each started to perform a warbling laugh. Angered by this, Snicktooth leapt to her feet and roared at the hydra, which only set him to cackle harder.

 _Stop it!_ Suddenly, Snicktooth felt something shift within her chest plates, and the next thing she knew, Triple was reeling back from the ball of flame she spat at him. Six shocked optics stared at her and Snicktooth started to grin. She shot out another fireball, which scorched the hyrda's three-pronged tail. Wailing in dismay and a little bit of pain, Triple took off running across the deck, his nestmate gleefully chasing after. After dodging a few more blasts, the male Predling was able to duck through one of the door leading inside. Snicktooth was about to follow when Drakonis landed on the deck behind her.

 _Show me._ He commanded in their guttural language. The smaller dragon happily complied, shooting her yellow fireball across the ship's plating. Drakonis stared for a moment before he transformed, so as to be better able to explain his thoughts.

"This is a great gift, little one," he started off, causing Snicktooth to puff out her scales a bit in joy. "But you would be doing me a great service if you were to limit its use to when there are none besides ourselves present."

 _Why?_ She warbled, metal scales falling flat once more. _Fun. Share!_

"Share it with your nestmates, yes, but the other Decepticons might not like gaining new scorch marks, and your gift could easily hurt one of the humans should you accidentally hit them."

Snicktooth chirped in dismay, as the thought of harming one of the organics who smelled so funny wasn't a nice one. Drakonis, knowing full well what was going through the sparkling's processor, bent down so as to pick her up.

"Now, why don't you and I return to the skies, hm? And perhaps we can surprise your other nestmates with this new ability."

 _Yes yes yes!_


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"...definitely have themselves a new home base." Agent Darby was saying as Amy and Airazor entered the ship's bridge. "Their attacks have been getting too organized again for the 'Bots and their forces to still be constantly mobile."

"Then that just begs the question, where?" Airachnid placed her servos on her hips, pink eyes narrowing at the screen.

"It is possible they've gone underground in the literal sense - the Insectibot swarm would be more than capable of digging out a cavern system for them to use." Shockwave suggested.

"They've tried that before, though, when Ratchet was working through his experiments with Dark energon." Starscream pointed out. "And after the spectacular explosion when we collapsed the caves..."

"It would seem unlikely that the Autobots would chose such a type of base again." Megatron finished for him.

"They might have gone to the Arcturus." All the Decepticons glanced down to see Amy standing by their pedes. "Didn't Smokescreen use it when he was on the outs with the other 'Bots?"

"She's right. That old wreck is still intact enough for the Autobots to make a decent base inside, especially if they had the Insectibots make a hive in the mountain behind it." Airachnid said grimly.

"Then we shall have to investigate it as a possible-" The Decepticon leader's words were cut off from an alert on another console. Soundwave immediately checked it, his long, tapered digits tapping away over the keys in a flurry of motion.

"What's going on?" Agent Darby asked over her comm line. All the woman could see on her screen was the various Con officers turning away with worried looks on their faceplates.

"That's the incoming spacecraft alarm," Starscream told her. "The last time it went off was when Ultra Magnus and his warship arrived with Autobot reinforcements."

Darby let out a frustrated hiss. "Well, is this another 'Bot, or do we actually have some allies of our own about to touch down?"

"About to crash, more like." Amy muttered as Airazor gave her a lift to the top of the console where Soundwave was furiously attempting to get a proper reading on the inbound vessel. "If these vectors are right, they're going down hard and fast in Montana."

"Craft: too small for proper ship," the communications officer intoned. "Analysis: escape pod of Class 3-B prison ship."

"That is a model most often used by the Autobots back in the early days of the War." Shockwave murmured.

"Then it is entirely possible we have an escaped Decepticon about to join us." Starscream started to look relieved, until Megatron corrected him.

"It could still be an Autobot, merely escaping from the destruction of one such ship. Soundwave, prepare to open a groundbridge to the pod's location as soon as it lands - I will be going personally. Starscream, fetch the twins, we may have need of their battle prowess in case the Autobots decide to investigate as well. Airachnid, you will be accompanying us as well."

The femme nodded her assent as the Seeker sent a private comm to his two biggest flyers. "If it is an Autobot, will we try to take them prisoner?"

"Yes. We cannot have the enemy's ranks swelled anymore than they have been by recent developments."

"Dreadwing is on his way, but Knockout is insistent that Skyquake remain in the medbay for the time being." Starscream said sourly as he re-entered the conversation, casting a glance over at Airazor. "Apparently the Predlings have begun to develop their weapons systems."

The other Cons' optic-ridges shot up in surprise. "Already?" Airachnid asked as Shockwave merely sighed.

"It is not unexpected," the scientist explained. "Predacons of old had to be ready to fight for dominance and survival even as sparklings."

"Not unexpected to _you,_ perhaps, but 'Quake certainly was ready to be caught by fireballs of three different types. Knockout was complaining quite heartily about removing and replacing several melted plates of armor on his lower legs."

"Then instead of Skyquake," Megatron jumped in smoothly to prevent an outright argument between his second in command and head scientist. "Shockwave, would you ask Predaking to join our group?"

"Of course, sir."

-PP:SC-

 _System warning: critically low fuel levels._

Well, of course. She hadn't had a full ration of energon since Primus knew when.

 _Electrical systems undergoing cascading failure._

Also not surprising. Her armor had been stripped away ages ago on that forsaken prison ship, wires left torn and exposed.

 _Self-repair functions non-operational._

And there was three for three. Self-repair was practically the first thing the 'Bots removed upon catching her, along with her weapons systems.

Green optics flickered to life, hazily taking in the interior of the pod she'd managed to drag herself to when the _Willbreaker_ was, well, breaking up. Lacking the strength of processor to input any actual coordinates, the best she'd been able to do was set the escape pod to seek out the largest collection of Decepticon signals it could track.

Now, it would seem, she'd finally landed.

Reaching up a mangled servo, the femme carefully deactivated the seals keeping the pod shut. Air rushed in as the lid lifted away, and her HUD was flooded with new warnings of organic contaminants. Ignoring them, she started to slowly haul herself out, dropping to the ground outside with a static-filled whimper of pain.

Distantly, but growing louder, she could detect the sound of buzzing wings, and eerie, high-pitched wails. Insectibots. Great.

Disregarding all the internal alarms directing her not to do so, the femme began to drag her tortured frame away from the escape pod and towards the nearby shelter of several tall, thin organic structures.

-PP:SC-

Clown car joke from Dreadwing aside, Airachnid knew that their situation was getting grimmer by the second. Upon arriving close to the sight of the downed pod, she and the other Cons were immediately set upon by an airborne horde of Insectibots. Despite having an innate connection to the creatures, she was unable to access their hive mind, courtesy of a specialized telepathic block developed by that sadistic Autobot Ratchet. What burned the most was that he'd only been able to develop the block after studying her in one of his laboratories back on Cybertron for several solar cycles, until a team of Decepticons were able to rescue the femme.

Drakonis, at least, was making himself twice as useful as any of the others. In his dragon form, the Predacon king tore through the Insectibot ranks, ripping apart any who came within his reach, and blasting others with his massive fireballs. But even so, there were more than enough of the creatures around to overwhelm the Decepticons, as for each one they brought down another was ready to take its place.

And then, the fight was unexpectedly over.

The escape pod, sitting innocently in its crater the entire time, suddenly exploded, taking out the couple dozen Insectibots that had been hovering close by. At the dramatic loss of troops, the rest of the Autobot forces began to pull back, streaming away from the area as fast as their wings could carry them.

"Huh," was all Airachnid had to say. "That was helpful."

"Indeed." Megatron rumbled, coming up to stand beside her as his cannon powered down. The other Cons also allowed themselves to relax, all wondering what, exactly, had just happened.

Transforming back to bipedal mode, Drakonis was the only one looking to the tree rather than the fleeing horde. "Sir, there is a wounded Cybertronian in those trees. I believe she is the one responsible for the pod self-destructing." Optics shuttering in surprise and curiosity, Megatron headed over, trailed by the others. The sight that they came across was hardly an expected one.

There was indeed a wounded femme sitting slumped against one of the aspen trees, but wounded was not nearly descriptive enough of a term. Practically armorless, her protoform plating was entirely exposed to the elements, covered in messily-done repair welds and open gashes that sluggishly leaked energon. Signs of half-healed injuries from energon whips to laser scalpels and everything in-between trekked up her ravaged frame, making the Decepticons wonder how exactly the femme had managed to drag herself to her current position.

Then dark green optics flickered on to stare up at them, and Airachnid felt more than heard herself let out a keen of distress. Before any of the startled mechs could stop her, the pink and white femme darted forward, carefully taking the newcomer's helm in her servos.

"No, no no no, 'Fly, what did those monsters do to you, sparklet?" Airachnid whispered painfully. The younger femme's lip components twitched into a small smile as she studied the worried faceplates before her. A burst of static came out of her damaged vocalizer, but aside from that she made no attempt to answer.

"Airachnid...?" Drakonis carefully shuffled forward, crouching down by the pair. "Do you know her?"

She nodded shakily, never taking her optics off of the other femme. "This, Drak, is my little sister, Dragonfly."

-PP:SC-

After getting over their shock, the Decepticons were quick to call for Knockout and Breakdown to join them through the groundbridge. Both the medic and his assistant, upon arriving, were equally horrified by the sight of the mangled femme. They swiftly got to work, making sure her systems were stabilized before the trip back to Trypticon's medical bay.

When the portal opened again, Dreadwing ended up being the one to scoop up and carry Dragonfly through. He was one of the few Cons to remember both Airachnid and her sister from when they'd first been brought to Headquarters in Kaon. While the elder femme had always held herself proudly, dedicating her time fully to training for the War, the younger was such a fun, bubbly youngling, always ready to cheer up anyone who needed it.

To see her like this was beyond disconcerting. Dreadwing had to swallow back his rage and desire to purge upon first lifting the broken femme and realizing that her wings had been removed as well.

Aboard Trypticon once more, everyone else had gathered to catch a glimpse of the newcomer, despite the warnings of her dire state. Bill ended up seeing her before his daughter did, and immediately turned Amy's head into his side, ignoring the girl's protests. Vince looked ill at the sight of all the damage, while Sierra was hard pressed not to run and vomit. The six Predlings all bunched together for comfort as Dreadwing walked past, and didn't resist in the slightest as Drakonis wrapped himself around them in dragon form.

 _Her hurt bad,_ Snicktooth chirped unhappily. _Why?_

 _Evil ones do._ Drakonis growled in answer, pulling his tail a little more tightly around the sparklings.

 _Bad!_ All three of Triple's heads snapped together.

 _We hurt back?_ Moltenwing's feathers clinked together in anger.

 _I and others._ The massive dragon reassured her. _You too small._

 _Are not!_ All the little ones squeaked as one, setting their leader to release an amused rumble.

 _Are too. For now._

 _A/N: Sorry about the delay folks, I've been running myself into the ground for finals week. Two down, two to go, and then I'll have a nice long winter break for writing - after I make the thousand mile drive back to my home, that is. Eh heh..._

 _Anyway, we'll be getting an explanation of Dragonfly next chapter, as well as a proper look at the Autobot roster and some other things too, since she'll need to be brought up to date about the War on Earth and where the different factions stand._

 _Until next time,_

 _-Triscribe_


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Golden optics peering around a corner, Snicktooth chirruped an _all clear_ signal to her nestmates. In a chaotic mass, the six Predlings surged towards the door of the medical bay, Darksteel launching himself up high enough into the air so that the motion sensors would detect him, opening the portal for their group.

In the dead of night, most of the Decepticons were in their respective private quarters, but evidently not Knockout. The blue and black mech was slumped over at his desk, systems humming softly as he recharged. Moltenwing shushed her fellow Predlings, all of them remaining quiet as they snuck past the medic, towards the private room where the latest newcomer had been placed. Once again, 'Steel activated the motion sensor, and as soon as the door slid open they all hurried inside.

The femme called Dragonfly lay curled up on her side on the medical berth, trembling slightly though she appeared to still be in recharge.

 _What wrong with her?_ Skylynx chittered, clawing his way up onto the platform.

 _Not know,_ Airazor squeaked, following him with a few flaps of her wings. _Bad dream cycles?_

 _We make them stop!_ All three of Triple's heads declared as he struggled to lift himself upward as well. Snicktooth pushed her head up underneath him, giving the hydra a boost before clambering after.

 _How?_ Darksteel asked. Moltenwing tilted her head to one side as she considered the problem. Acting on instinct, the avian Predling hopped forward until her optics were even with the femme's powered down ones. Then, she reached forward to nuzzle her beak against the bigger Cybertronian's faceplate.

Gradually, the others joined in, settling themselves against the replacement armor pieces the femme had been given that day. And as each added their warmth to the pile, Dragonfly's sensory echoes faded away, leaving her in a peaceful recharge cycle once again.

-PP:SC-

When Knockout awoke the next morning and entered the small room to check on his patient, the mech nearly stalled from shock at seeing all six sparklings gathered around her frame. Unwilling to disturb them all, he silently backed out into the med bay proper, shut the door and sent a comm message to Drakonis.

The grown Predacon arrived not two minutes later, as he'd already been up and searching for his small charges.

"I don't suppose you have any idea as to why they'd do this?" Knockout whispered as he led Drak to the private room. The much larger Cybertronian could only shrug.

On her berth, Dragonfly had finally awoken, and looked up at the entering mechs with confusion. Silently, she pointed to the sparklings and raised an optic ridge.

"Don't worry, they're mostly harmless." Knockout said dryly. "Drak, you wanna get the little miscreants out of here?"

"Yes, of course." Drakonis stepped forward and stared to carefully pick up the still recharging Predlings. Dragonfly ended up placing the last two, Moltenwing and Snicktooth, onto the pile in her arms. "I apologize if they've bothered you-" The femme cut him off by vigorously shaking her helm.

"Alright, alright, shoo, before those scraplets wake up and start messing with my med bay." Knockout waved his servos at Drak, prompting him to head out the door while Dragonfly smiled with amusement. One the Predacons were gone, the medic turned to look at her.

"Now, first thing's first, how are you feeling this morning?" The femme titled her helm to one side, then mimed a typing gesture with her digits. "Ah, yes, slipped my mind."

Grabbing a blank data-pad to hand over, Knockout waited as his patient wrote up a response for him to read.

 _Better than I was. Still not at a hundred percent, though._

"That's not surprising." He muttered, going to a shelf for a cube of med-grade energon. "Drink this, then we'll do a systems scan to see if there's anything I missed repairing last night, and after that you'll be open for visitors. I want you to stay put in here or the external bay for a few days, just so I can make sure nothing is seriously out of balance, and while we put together a new vocalizer and set of wings for you." Instantly, the femme perked up at the idea of being able to talk and fly again, the two things she'd missed the most while being a prisoner of the Autobots.

Well, two out of three, at any rate. And just as she had the thought, the doors slid open to reveal thing number three.

"You're looking much better," Airachnid grinned as she sauntered into the room to give her little sister another tight hug. "Heard you had some company last night, too." She laughed when Dragonfly slapped her shoulder plating.

"I'm not sure who was more shocked to find all six Predlings in here this morning, me or her." Knockout mentioned as he came over, scanner in hand. "Now move, I don't want to get your systems mixed up with hers."

Waiting until the medic had checked Fly over and found her to be in as good a condition as he hoped after eight hours of repairwork, Airachnid brought up a subject she wasn't sure her sister would handle well.

"Dragonfly... When your pod crashed did you acknowledge any alerts that you were on an organic world?" The older femme asked slowly. Fly glanced at her, nodding. "Well, there's life on this planet. Intelligent. The dominant species around here are known as humankind, and we have an understanding with the local government body. In fact, there's a handful of humans who spend most of their time aboard this ship, and I'm directly responsible for safeguarding one of the younger ones."

Optics wide, Dragonfly stared at her big sister without a sign of how she was reacting to the news. For vorns back on Cybertron, the younger of the pair had been a classic organic-phobe, afraid of anything alive not made of metal. But, times had changed for every Cybertronian.

"What I'm leading up to is, would you like to meet him?" Airachnid smiled at the half-nod she received. Quickly, she went back to the open doorway, bending down to retrieve something.

When the spider-femme returned to the berth, she had standing upon her servos a very nervous looking bipedal organic.

"Uh, huh, Dragonfly." It said, with a voice that Fly recognized as belonging to an adolescent male. "I'm Vince. Airachnid's told me a lot about you."

Giving him a small grin, the femme picked up her data-pad again to reply. _All good things, I hope._

"Well, sort of a mix..." The human chuckled. "I'm going to say here and now that if you plan any pranks in future, I'll gladly help as long as I'm not targeted in them."

"Vince!" Airachnid cried in exasperation. "Do you have any idea how long I've worked to get her to _stop_ pranking?"

 _Never gonna happen, sis._ Dragonfly handed her the new message with a smug look.

"Oh, we'll just see about that. I swear to Primus, I won't be able to leave you two alone together for a minute, am I?"

Vince and Fly shared a cautious look, before breaking out into identical grins. "Doesn't look like it!"

 _A/N: Late, late, late, I'm feeling like the White Rabbit from Wonderland now. Argh. But, better late than never, right?_


End file.
